There are a number of applications of a lock in which it is desirable for the lock to be shockproof. Examples include a gun container and a car door. A shockproof lock will remain engaged despite inadvertent or intentional shock of the locked container.
A shockproof lock eliminates the danger and risk of the container opening by accident or by force. In the collision of an automobile with another automobile or a stationary object, the shock experienced by the automobile can be transmitted to the locks of the car doors, which may then accidentally open, permitting the occupants to be thrown from the car and seriously injured. In the case of a container for a firearm, a shockproof lock will prevent brute tampering--such as dropping the container from a height--from disengaging the lock and allowing access to the firearm by someone other than the owner. Some states have passed laws holding the owner of a firearm liable for use of the firearm by another, and such risks can often be reduced or eliminated by the use of the present invention.
Some prior art is known to the applicants, including U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,396 to Loeff which discloses a tamperproof lockable firearm case, in which the lock is made tamperproof by controlling the opening and closing of the lock using a computer, which opens the lock only after keys on an attached keypad are pressed in proper sequence. The tamperproof lock of Loeff is not shockproof; it may be opened as the result of a jarring impact. The mechanical elements of the tamperproof lock of Loeff are not designed to withstand shock; they comprise a conventional locking mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,010 to Dyer et al. discloses a handgun case with lock and block designed against prying and jimmying, that protects against an attempt at opening the case by application of non-shocking (non-jarring) forces. The lock of Dyer et al. is not shockproof.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,838 to Cislo discloses a lock box for pistols, in which the closed compartment is only accessible by selecting the code that unlocks a latch to open the compartment. This lock box is similar in concept to the tamperproof lockable firearm case of Loeff. It is not shockproof. U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,466 also to Cislo discloses an improved apparatus to lock a handgun within a compartment while the compartment is lockable to a stationary object using a detachable bracket. The locking mechanism of this improved apparatus is similar in its functioning to the lock of the earlier patent by Cislo; it is not shockproof, nor is it designed to be shockproof.
All of the prior art known to the applicants allows the possibility that striking the container hard enough will cause elements of the lock to move relative to each other in a way that permits the container to open. None of these locks include elements and a means of interaction designed to resist opening as a result of jarring impact.